


It's always these two.

by FlyCasual



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: ABBA, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College AU, F/M, Limes, jily, marauder era, muggle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-03-21 01:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3673014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyCasual/pseuds/FlyCasual
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of Jily Drabbles from my tumblr. One drabble per chapter. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Take a Chance on Me

**Author's Note:**

> Jily modern muggle college au. Where James just might be a huuge ABBA fan.
> 
> Based off: "your music’s way too loud bUT THAT’S MY FAVORITE SONG" AU

Though Lily was hesitant to touch the door for fear that James’ lunacy was contagious, she knocked quickly three times. “POTTER! I AM TRYING TO GET SOME WORK DONE!” She had known since move-in day that her neighbors were trouble and now it was November and she couldn’t stand it anymore.

On that fateful day back at the start of September, the building was flooded with freshmen and their parents, carrying box after box up the four flights of stairs. While in Lily’s case, those boxes contained books and fuzzy pillows, her neighbors had packed an entirely different array of things. James and his daft roommate Sirius bounded energetically up the stairs carrying huge speakers and massive screens and overly complicated gaming chairs. Lily’s dad had taken one look at their ridiculous speaker system and laughed that Lily was in for an interesting year.

It was currently 4 o’something on a brisk November afternoon and Lily had a massive analysis on the movie adaptation of King Lear in a mere eight hours. This wasn’t the problem; Lily loved King Lear. The problem was stupid Potter and his stupid rock music and his goddamn base thumping speakers. It was hard to write a paper when you couldn’t hear your own thoughts. It was even harder to write one when your laptop screen vibrated with every wub-wub-WUB of the bass.

Of course he wasn’t answering the door. How could he possibly hear her?

“JAMES POTTER!” Lily pounded with both fists.

He heard that. The door opened and the music got impossibly louder. Now the noise was rattling Lily’s brain loose and James Potter’s tight t-shirt clad chest was level with her eyes.

He gave her an easy smile. “Hey, Lily.” She couldn’t hear him, but she was pretty good at lip reading her own name.

She raised her eyebrows, pointed to her ears, and gave some kind of spazzed jazz hands gesture, but thankfully he understood what she meant.

“Too loud?” He asked (or mouthed – she wouldn’t know the difference), smiling again. How dare he smile, the mocking asshole. Of freaking course it’s too loud.

She gave him her best glare. Suddenly the song ended and she took the brief moment of silence to start in on him – “Potter you are the most inconsid-“

If you change your mind, I’m the first in line. Honey, I’m still free.  
Take a chance on me.

Lily squealed and shoved past him into the room. “OHMYGOD I LOVE ABBA!” she screamed over the music.

James’ mocking smile turned instantly genuine. “Really?” He turned and walked into the room to turn down the music.

“Oh now you turn down the music. The one good song you’ve played since you moved in.”

“Anything to please a fellow ABBA fan. I love ABBA. Got all their albums on vinyl. Look, I’ve even got their tour DVDs. I watch them when Sirius isn’t here sometimes. He won’t let me play ABBA. Says people will hate us.”

“Trust me, you don’t need ABBA to make people hate you.”

“How could you possibly hate me, Lily?” He sat in one of the ridiculous gaming chairs. “This is the first we’ve spoken.” Just then, his eyes lit up so suddenly that Lily’s breath caught. “You’ve got to see this!” He reached over to the TV stand beside him and pulled out a DVD. “This is the tour where Fältskog and Lyngstad wore those bizarre but awesome blue and purple jumpsuits. And this” he pulled out another disk “is ABBA: The Movie, which they played at all the US concert locations after–”

“–After the concerts on their final tour, I know.” Lily couldn’t help but compare James to a little kid. His black hair was a mess, he was in sweatpants with bare feet, and he was acting just like her little cousins did when they showed her their favorite action figures.

James’ crinkled at the realization that he had met another true ABBA fan. “Have a seat, Lily.”

Though she was sure she didn’t tell her feet to walk to the other weird game chair, somehow she ended up there. And somehow after that, she ended up watching an hour long concert followed by a 45 minute exclusive interview. And somehow during that time, her gamer chair had found it’s way right up next to James’. And after that she had somehow see James’ limited edition ABBA socks and drank Mountain Dew out of a vintage ABBA thermos. Somehow she thought James ordered pizza just as an excuse to have to get paper plates down from a shelf where he would casually come across said ABBA thermos that had somehow gotten up there, when in reality James held the thing like it was a priceless china and had clearly been waiting for someone worthy of showing it to.

“Well Lily, I’d love to watch another concert but I said I’d meet Sirius at the gym at 8:30.”

“8:30? What on earth time is it?” Lily panicked, reaching for her phone. It read 8:17. “Shit! I have a paper to write!”


	2. Best Song Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James met the most amazing girl at Yale’s masquerade ball and they danced all night to the best song ever. Pretty much entirely based off Best Song Ever by One Direction. If you know the song, you know exactly what to expect.

After weeks of begging from Sirius, James agreed to attend Yale’s annual Halloween Masquerade Ball. Sirius insisted that a masquerade was better than other school dances because people really let loose when they were disguised. The possibilities were endless.

James had put his foot down, however, at all of Sirius’ pair-costume ideas. He said no to Batman and Robin. No to Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. No to Freddy and Jason. James was going to go as Zorro. There was no classier masked costume, in his opinion. After some sulking, Sirius decided on the Phantom of the Opera, which he claimed would melt girls’ hearts.

They arrived an hour after the dance started. The place was a lively mixture of raunchy and classy. There were chandeliers, satin tablecloths, and hors d’oeuvres, but also strobe lights, spiked punch, and a pulsing base line.

Sirius immediately zeroed in on a skinny brunette sitting alone. “Later,” he said to James.

James was usually quite bold, but tonight he felt downright daring. He reached up and tightened the black cloth he had fashioned into his Zorro mask, fluffed his short cape out behind him, and strode to the dance floor. A small circle of girls was more than willing to let him into their group and he was jumping and grinding away in no time.

As the night wore on, the music got louder, the dancing got sloppier, and the atmosphere crackled with college kids living while they were young. James hadn’t seen Sirius in over an hour but he found that he really didn’t care. He figured it was about time to choose one girl to focus his attention on. The lucky girl was a small blonde fairy that had been in his group since the beginning of the night. She had been a bit timid at first, but there was a certain spunk about her that James found intriguing.

Just when he was about to pull the girl aside, he noticed that everyone quit dancing as their attention was drawn to the large double doors on the ballroom. A group of six or seven girls dressed in all black shoved the doors open and took the room by storm. Leading the group was a hypnotizing young lady with fiery red hair and a smirk that make James ditch his dancing group without a second thought.

He approached her and took in her appearance. She had a dainty black mask that just covered her eyes, tight black pants, black combat boots, and a black leather jacket over a black shirt.

“I’m James,” James half-shouted over the music.

The girl gave him a once-over before responding “Georgia. Georgia Rose.” She grabbed his hand and led him directly to the densest part of the dance floor.

“So what are you supposed to be?” James asked.

She rolled her eyes sarcastically. “I’m a burglar. And you are some kind of white-trash vigilante.”

James put a hand on his chest and cried, “Damn! That hurt! I was going for white-trash Zorro.”

Georgia shrugged.

The DJ began playing a popular rock anthem and James and Georgia were soon jumping and screaming the words. Sometimes she would grab James’ hands and force him to move in sync with her. Other times she would spin around with no warning, leaving James momentarily mesmerized at the way the lights caught her hair as it whipped past him.

It was soon apparent to James that Georgia did what she wanted and didn’t care what anyone else thought. She screamed the wrong words off key and had more fun than anyone else in the room while doing it.

Suddenly, Georgia stopped dancing and pulled James’ face down to her level.

James just froze at her sudden closeness.

She grinned with a wickedness in her eyes. She held his gaze then mouthed “I’m thirsty” slowly and deliberately.

James nodded and allowed her to lead him out of the crowd, toward one of the refreshment tables. It was there that Georgia discarded her leather jacket, throwing it on an empty chair. The both downed glasses of punch that clearly had a bit of bite to them.

James now grabbed Georgia’s hand and led her back to the dance floor. This girl had been completely in control of the night and he couldn’t let that happen. She eyed him like she knew what he was thinking, but allowed him to lead her all the same.

Eventually, people began to leave the dance. It was nearing two o’clock and James’ feet were killing him, but there was no way he was going to let this night end on his account. He finally spotted Sirius, tangled up with some girl on the stairs. Tomorrow, James would get to hear that the Phantom of the Opera costume worked like a charm, but tonight he couldn’t care less. Tonight, Georgia Rose was his entire world.

On another trip to the refreshment table, someone yelled “Lily! We’re leaving!”

Georgia turned to the voice and responded, “Just a sec!”

James raised his eyebrows. “Lily?”

She winked, grabbed her jacket and walked away.

Just as she was about to walk through the door, James gathered his bearings and ran after her. He caught up to her in the middle of the parking lot, gasping for air. “Wait,” he breathed.

She did.

“Can I take you home with me?” James asked.

Lily pondered that for a while before saying, “Never in your wildest dreams.” Then she stepped up to him, grabbed him by the shoulders, and pressed her lips to his. They were both overtired, slightly buzzed, and chalked full of the energy of the night and James could feel every bit of that shared connection through Lily’s kiss. After a few moments, Lily stepped back. “Don’t forget me, Zorro.” She turned and disappeared into the night.


	3. I'm On Your Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "we both got in separate bar fights downtown and now we’re waiting in the er comparing stories" au
> 
> James and Lily both end up in the hospital wing one night and neither is honest about how their injuries happened. They just might know each other well enough to see through the lies, though.

Lily had never considered herself the type of student who stumbled into the hospital wing at nearly midnight, clutching her side and holding in tears. She’d never been someone who couldn’t differentiate between tears of pain and tears of rage, yet she had no idea for which reason she was crying. Maybe both. The pain was definitely tear-worthy. Her shoulder was burning and she could feel blood trickling down her face. She felt like she’d been stabbed in the ribs and she couldn’t muster up enough pride to stop walking with a slight limp.

            The hospital wing was vacant, as far as Lily could tell. The numb, anesthetic taste in the air put her on edge, so she tried to breathe through her nose as she shuffled toward the nearest cot. The second Lily touched the cot, Pomfrey threw open her office door. _She may be a bossy old hag, but the woman’s good at her job,_ Lily thought.

            “Miss Evans! What on earth did you get yourself into?” Pomfrey was hovering over Lily’s cot, clad in a thick, lavender nightdress.

            Lily flustered for a second. She didn’t want word of her very un-headgirl-like behaviors getting out. She thought about saying she fell in the trip stair, but she doubted Pomfrey would buy that. The trip stair probably wouldn’t cause scratches on her shoulders. “I was just standing up for myself. You know, fighting for what I believe in. It was very noble and mature, I promise you.”

            Pomfrey gently prodded Lily’s shoulders and clucked along matter-of-factly: “You got in a fight. With someone with mighty fingernails. Someone who didn’t know how to fight, and resorted to shoulder grabbing and rib elbowing. If you really were fighting for something you believe in, I do hope you put up a better fight than your opponent did. Scratching and elbowing would cause dear Godric to roll over in his grave.”

            Lily gave her a small smile. “Oh, I know how to fight.”

            “Then should I be expecting your opponent to come for a visit? Or are they unable to walk?”

            “They’ll be able to walk, eventually. I didn’t do any permanent damage. No broken bones, I promise. And definitely no scratches.”

            “You know I will have to give you both detention if the opponent mentions the fight.”

            Lily sighed and the movement hurt her chest. “I understand.”

            Pomfrey walked over to one of her many cupboards and pulled out a few things. Lily sunk deeper into her pillows and closed her eyes. While Promfrey mended her gashes, Lily replayed the fight in her mind, hoping she didn’t do or say anything that would get her in _too_ much trouble.

> _“It’s just going to keep getting worse. Eventually it’s going to be us versus them. All the_ _pure bloods will be death eaters and all the muggleborns will be dead. The half bloods will either pretend to be purebloods or be killed. It’s all just a matter of time.” Martha Gray, a snooty, muggleborn, sixth-year prefect, had been spewing her opinions since they started rounds two hours ago. She was under the impression that she and Lily were friends and allies just because they were both muggleborns. United by a common enemy._
> 
> _“That’s not true, Martha,” Lily said for the umpteenth time, trying to remain calm. “There are plenty of purebloods that are fighting against the death eaters. It isn’t muggleborns versus purebloods. It’s good versus evil.”_
> 
> _“Exactly! Purebloods are evil.”_
> 
> _Exasperated, Lily whirled around and gripped Martha by the shoulders. “No! Don’t you see! You’re just as bad as they are! You can’t stereotype them all into one lump and call them ‘evil!’”_
> 
> _“I can and I will. Whose side are you on, Evans?” Martha ripped out of Lily’s grip and her nostrils flared a bit, causing Lily to smirk and lose some of her steam. Martha didn’t appear to notice. “You need to join the fight Lily! Join the “good” side! We need to show those purebloods that we are every bit as powerful as they are!”_
> 
> _“I have joined the fucking fight, Gray! You really need to stop talking. Just leave. I can finish rounds on my own.”_
> 
> _Martha’s glared at Lily from between strings of her long brown hair. “You need to get real, Lily. Take your friend Potter. When the going gets tough he’s going to crawl to You-Know-Who, who will accept him with ope–” Martha’s words were cut off when her jaw was suddenly in contact with Lily’s right fist._
> 
> _Then all hell broke loose._
> 
> _“YOU’RE SO FUCKING STUPID!”_
> 
> _“YOU JUST PUNCHED ME YOU PSYCHO BITCH!” Marsha’s fingernails raked across Lily’s collarbone before Lily knocked her wrist away. Marsha used her other hand to grab Lily’s shoulder and shove her into the cold, stone wall. Lily tried to restrain the clearly crazy girl, but Marsha kicked Lily’s knee and drove a bony elbow into Lily’s ribcage._
> 
> _Lily gasped and walked a few steps away. “Okay. Calm down. We can sort this out,” she breathed._
> 
> _Marsha huffed but didn’t advance toward Lily. “Doubt it. That pureblood bastard’s got you brainwashed against your own people.”_
> 
> _Lily backed away a bit farther, clutching her side. She slowly, calmly, reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand._
> 
> _Marsha’s eyes grew wide, but otherwise remained frozen._
> 
> _“Levicorpus,” Lily said calmly, quietly._
> 
> _Marsha shrieked as her world turned upside down and her robes flopped over her head._
> 
> _While Marsha screamed different variations of “LET ME DOWN, EVANS,” Lily spoke calmly: “You know, Gray. You’re just aiding our bad reputation. What kind of self-respecting witch doesn’t pull her wand to defend herself?”_

Lily decided that her actions could be played off as self-defense, for the most part. Though, she _did_ throw the first punch.

            Madam Pomfrey healed the scratches on Lily’s face and cleaned up the blood. “You’ve got a fractured rib, Miss Evans. I’ll have to wrap you up and keep you over night. Here, drink this to speed up the healing.”

            Lily hesitantly took a sip of the brown liquid she was handed. _Ugh._

            Pomfrey scoffed at the Lily’s disgusted expression. “Well, what did you expect? Pumpkin juice? Finish it or you’ll take days to heal.”

            Lily obediently downed the potion.

            “Good. Now get some sleep and you’ll should be set to go by morning.”

            

 

 

            It didn’t take long for Lily to fall asleep. Trying to talk sense into idiots took a lot out of her. Plus the pillows in here were _so soft_.

            She slept far more peacefully than she ever did in the Gryffindor 7th year girls’ dorm. She was constantly woken up by Alice’s snoring or Dorcas and Marlene’s late night gossiping. Here in the hospital wing, it was absolutely quiet… until the tall double doors were thrown open sometime in the middle of the night.

            “Poppy, I’m going to need some drugs.”

            Bam. Awake.

            Streaks of moonlight leaked into the room, illuminating the undeniable form of James Potter as he made his way down the aisle of cots. He hopped up onto a cot in the middle of the room, waiting to be helped. He stretched his long limbs out across the bed and sighed happily as he nestled into the pillows.

            Lily slammed her eyes shut before James could realize the hospital wing had one other occupant. She wanted to go back to sleep, but she was too curious about why Potter strolled in here, alone, in the middle of the night. Also, lately any sight, mention, or thought of James could take over Lily’s mind quite effectively.

            Pomfrey emerged from her quarters and started talking to James, but since Madam Pomfrey was considerate of her “sleeping” patient, most of the conversation was too quiet for Lily to make out.

            After Madam Pomfrey treated James—from what Lily could understand, he had a few open wounds that needed cleaning and bandaging—she retreated once again to her office. James took her departure as an opportunity to skulk across the room and sit the edge of the bed right next to Lily’s.

            Lily tried to subtly burrow deeper into her blankets.

            James laughed at her. “Good morning, Evans,” he crooned. “What brings you here?”

            Lily opened one eye and muttered, “Morning.” That one eye was all she needed to take in the sight of James perched there, elbows resting on his knees, full attention on her, hair a mess, glasses bent, mouth smiling warmly.

            He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll just assume the worst.”

            “And what would that be?” Lily’s voice was muffled by her blankets, but James didn’t seem to care.

            “Oh, I dunno. Bit of a _wild_ night with that Ravenclaw bloke you’re always fawning over?… what’s his name again?... Barnes? Borke?”

            Lily rolled to face James, completely dropping her sleepy façade. “I do not _fawn_ ,” she stated, fully alert.

            James leaned closer to her. “So what was it then?”

            Lily kept her expression steady and said, “I fell into the trick stair.”

            A flicker of amusement flashed across James’ face. “Did you now? …Are you a first year? Or a Ravenclaw who tries to walk while reading? Or Slughorn sleepwalking? Or a drunk house elf?”

            _Professor Slughorn sleepwalks?_ “Yes. Yes to all. What happened to you?” She swung the topic.

            James straightened. “Somebody said something stupid and I felt it was my responsibility to make them rethink their opinions.”

            “You got in a fight at… what time is it?”

            James nodded, answering the question she didn’t fully ask. “’Bout five.”

            Lily fought an eye roll. “Merlin, Potter. Go to sleep.”

            “I’m headed that way. Poppy released me to go back to the tower.”

            “I’m here until morning,” Lily said through a yawn.

            James stood and Lily saw that his shirt was ripped in places. Must have been some fight. Lily waiting for a comment about how he could stay and keep her company, but none came, and she hated herself for being disappointed.

           “Goodnight, Evans. Watch out for those trick stairs from now on.” He cut her a look that said he knew full well she didn’t fall in a trick stair.

           Lily glanced between James and the bright patch of moonlight on the wall behind him. “Will do. And do behave yourself, James. Funny how fights tend to break out when there’s a full moon.”

           James grinned as he walked away.

           Lily pulled her blankets up and drifted off to sleep again, her thoughts flickering between James’ smile and her monthly concern for Remus.

 

           At seven, Madam Pomfrey woke Lily. “Here, Evans. Drink this, then you’re free to go.”

          “Thanks.” Lily quickly downed the potion she was handed, before she could get a chance to smell it. She tried to keep her face composed as Madam Pomfrey watched her drink it, and she _almost_ succeeded.

           Pomfrey chuckled softly, told Lily not to get in any more fights, and walked to tend to a new patient.

           Now that it was morning, the events of last night felt more real. Lily didn’t want to leave the hospital wing and face Martha Gray, or anyone else for that matter. Her friends had to have woken up by now and they would be wondering where she was.

           Lily wiggled around a bit to test for pain in her ribs. She felt fine, unfortunately.

           Madam Pomfrey turned to look at Lily, as though she was reading Lily’s thoughts, and said, “You may _go_ , Evans.”

           “Hmmph.” Lily threw off the blankets and set to work putting her shoes on. She was still wearing her (now very wrinkled) uniform from yesterday. If she couldn’t hide here all day, maybe the next best thing would be to get back to her dormitory before anyone else woke up so no one would see her and wonder where she slept.

           She bent and tied her right shoe, and while she was tying the left, two more shoes entered her line of vision. Her gaze moved from the shoes, to the pants, to the shirt, to the face of James Potter. With her shoes now on, she stood up and looked at him questioningly, unnerved by his uncharacteristic silence.

           James’ expression was unreadable, and before she could say anything, he moved even closer to her. His right hand reached up and gently smoothed her hair away from her face. The gesture was such a stark contrast to Martha Gray viscously yanking at her hair last night, and the combination of his hand on her hair and the fierceness of his gaze holding hers caused her stomach to erupt in butterflies and chills to creep across her shoulders.

           Then, bent down and pressed his lips to hers. The hand that was already in her hair threaded itself deeper into the tangled mess, while his other hand would around to her back to pull her closer.

           Lily was _definitely_ surprised and not quite sure how to react, so she just closed her eyes and let it happen, whatever it was. Soon, her lips were moving in synch with his and her hands were finally, _finally_ in that thick black hair. She sighed, and James smiled.          

           Lily pulled back a few inches. “So… Hi?”

           “Hi. I, um, heard something a few minutes ago. Apparently Martha Gray had a rough night?”

           Lily raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”

           James laughed and drew her into a hug. “Thanks for having my back. You _know_ I’m on your side… in war, in life, in anything.”


End file.
